Liberty National a winner ... in terms of the environment
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- In the beginning, there was toxic waste. Contaminated garbage. Pollution and junk and sludge from the oil depots where the tankers used to dock during World War II. And in the air? The foulest of odors, the stench acting as an invisible security gate to keep away intruders -- not that anybody ever wanted to get near the place.
It was, in Bob Cupp's words, a "nightmare. We were pretty sure any travesty known to man was on this property."
Nightmares, of course, are something we generally like to avoid. But Cupp and his golf course design partner, Hall of Fame golfer Tom Kite, embraced this one. Where everybody else saw junk, they saw potential. Where everybody else saw an unusable wasteland, they saw 18 holes. Where everybody else saw a chance to run as far away as possible, they saw a chance to set up shop and work, to transform this ugliest of creatures into Cinderella.
Where everybody else saw only the junk scattered at their feet, Cupp and Kite looked farther out, to the tremendous views of the Statue of Liberty, standing just 1,000 yards away, her siren call beckoning them to help this "wretched refuse on this teeming shore," as The New Colossus poem that is part of the Statue's lore cries out.
This week, their creation gets its coming-out party, as Liberty National Golf Club hosts The Barclays. But while the focus is on golf and who will win the first event of the 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, perhaps the most important story is the one already completed, how Cupp and Kite used their skills in building courses to turn this nightmare into an ecologically friendly 160 acres on the Jersey waterfront.
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"Hopefully it kind of sets an example of what can be done to help revitalize an area," Kite said.
It wasn't easy. Visions of developing Liberty National first began in 1992. Maybe it was fate that Kite would eventually be involved, since that was the year he won his only major championship, the U.S. Open. Certainly it was well before it was chic to "go green" and do the right thing for the environment.
But Paul and Dan Fireman, the co-founders of Liberty National, had been involved in several golf course developments and considered the possibility to turn this old refinery site with the great Lady Liberty views into something spectacular. They brought in Kite and Cupp, giving the two plenty of financial support but never getting involved in the design process.
Plenty of obstacles existed. Imagine that you're trying to clean up a toxic waste site ... and yet you can't get rid of the garbage. Kite and Cupp learned that disturbing the refuse was even worse than letting it just sit there. So they had to build on top of it. That meant putting a plastic "umbrella" covering on top of the contaminated area, making sure it was waterproof, then pouring tons of clay on top, then adding a four-foot layer of sand to mold the course.
This is not the usual way golf courses are created nowdays, at least not the top-shelf ones, Kite noted.
"The big thing in golf course design right now is there's some minimalist design, finding a great piece of property and touch(ing) it as little as possible," he said. "This is light years on the other side of the spectrum. Everything out there is 100 percent created. Those guys that are ... only designing golf courses on perfect pieces of property and only touching them just a little bit, they would have run away from this site as quickly as a bull runs."
But while the property wasn't perfect, the views are, and that's what kept Kite and Cupp motivated. They knew if they could pull this one off, they not only would do their part to help save the planet, they'd also have one spectacular course that could not be matched. Stand on the tee at the par-3 second hole, and Lady Liberty's extended right arm provides a great sightline to the hole. If you hit a wayward shot, you half expect her to move her arm, the world's biggest marshal showing where your ball is headed.
Of course, Liberty National has come to be defined by its views, which is fine -- unless you've designed the course and would also like people to appreciate the actual ground they play on. That's the part that comes into play this week. With the PGA TOUR's best golfers cranking away for four days, Liberty National will be under the microscope. Will the course play as well as it looks?
Kite knows he will hear grumbling. In fact, he expects it, especially about a course that's still young and still evolving. "You have to be able to bitch a little bit," Kite said, smiling. "If you can't do it, you can't get your TOUR card.'
But he'll know next week, once the tournament is over and the real reviews pour in. Will players consider it a tough but fair course? That's what he wants to hear. For now, he feels like a proud papa who doesn't yet know if his kid will attend Penn State or a state penitentiary.
"At some point in time," Kite said, "you just have to turn the kids loose and let them go out and see how good they are."
Even if the reviews are not what Kite and Cupp want to hear, however, Liberty National's legacy from an environment and ecological standpoint are sealed. The course has given new life to a place that was dying. Where once was decay now stands L-93 hybrid bent grass on the tees and fairways and A4 hybrid bent grass on the greens, a spectacular clubhouse, access to nearby Liberty State Park, and a natural bird habitat.
"Golf," said Kite, "is a wonderful option when you get a tainted piece of property."
Not every golfer in this week's 124-man field may like the course. But they won't be able to argue that point.
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